Wis. dairy farmer faces jail time in raw milk case

It may be the end of the road for a defiant Wisconsin dairy farmer now facing possible jail time after continuing to sell dairy products, including raw milk, without a license and ignoring a previous order to cease sales.

Vernon Hershberger of Loganville, Wis., has been charged with four misdemeanors as reported by WND.com.

Pete Kennedy, who wrote in a Farm-To-Consumer Legal Defense Fund commentary on the case, noted that one of the key facts of the case is Hershberger’s private, contractual agreement to provide food for food buyers clubs.

“If Hershberger is convicted of the charges against him, it could have a chilling effect on consumer access to raw milk for those who don’t own and board their own cows. The farmer currently is leasing his cows to the right to Choose Healthy Food Buyers Club,” Kennedy wrote.

The case adds to mounting headaches for raw milk supporters. In addition to a four-state campylobacteriosis outbreak linked to raw milk sold from a Pennsylvania dairy and an injunction against another Pennsylvania raw milk producer, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a study last week that showed that the rate of disease outbreaks linked to raw milk was 150 times greater than outbreaks linked to pasteurized milk.